The fear and pain of being stuck in Dax’s life injects energy into my bones. It gets me to my feet, pushes me to lunge for him. By the time he can see my attack coming, my elbow has connected with the middle of his face.

While he’s reeling, I stumble from the room, a scream stuck in my throat, still wet and naked.

He’s throwing curses around as I take several steps down the stairs. I know he’s coming after me. His eyes told me he’ll do anything to keep me in his life. When my bare feet hit the bottom step, I hesitate for a second. What if the front door is now locked? What if it had been locked all along and he was only trying to taunt me? Could that be why he’s taking his time catching up with me?

I almost collapse with relief when I turn the knob and it doesn’t resist. The door opens. With one obstacle out of my way, I pick up my pace. I can sense he’s close but I don’t turn to see just how much.

In the driveway, my lungs burn and my breath comes in gasps. I finally turn to look, but the distraction causes me to trip and fall flat on my face. As I scramble to my feet, I feel the scorching heat of his hands on my skin. He was closer than I thought. His hands curl around my arms. My skin screams from the pain that reminds me of the hot water he had sprayed on me earlier.

I fight him and scream as he drags me to my feet. I’m still determined to escape, but he’s too strong. I have no chance against him.

“You’ve fucked with me long enough,” he whispers into my ear, and pushes me hard, sending me stumbling forward, dropping to my knees.

He picks me up again only to do it one more time.

I try to speak, but sobs kill my voice.

I expect him to take me back to the house and lock me up, but he pushes me to my knees again in front of the koi pond. The next thing I know, my head is underwater with fish swimming past, seaweed dancing in front of my eyes. On instinct, I open my mouth to scream, but water floods in. I hold my breath instead, conserving what little air I have left inside my lungs. Through the rush of water, I hear him roar with anger as he holds my head into place.

I bring my hands to the edge of the rocky fountain, trying to push as hard as I can, but soon I realize I’m wasting my precious energy. I’m no match for the monster.

When I start to panic and my arms start flapping, he yanks me out and I let out the scream I was holding and snatch a breath of air.

Aware I’m playing a losing game, I continue to fight and scream in the hopes someone will hear me. He shoves me under the water again to silence me, repeating the process three more times. After the third time, he throws me to the side of the pond and towers over me. Like me, he’s still naked and his hair is matted on his head. I try to crawl away from him, but he stops me with a kick in the side.

“Try to leave me again and I’ll finish you off.”

I roll to my side and stare up at him, unable to hide the terror in my eyes.

He swipes a hand across his mouth. “You know what, sweetheart? You wouldn’t be the first.”

My mouth parts in shock. I want to tell myself he’s lying, but my intuition tells me he’s not. Oh my God. How did he fool everyone? How is that no one saw the monster in his eyes? If he’s really a killer, who were his victims? How was he able to hide in plain sight? Why did I end up inside his web?

“Let me . . . please,” I croak.

“Not a chance.” He lowers himself to my level. “You’re in my life to stay. This is your fairytale. We can be beautiful together. You only have to promise that from now on, you will obey me. Is that clear?” He puts a hand around my chin and squeezes pain out of me. “Answer me.”

I try to nod because he’s making it hard for me to speak. He lets go a little and I let out a murmur. “Yes.”

“Good girl.” He pulls me up for a kiss and lifts me gently into his arms, then takes me back into the house. I weep for my freedom. I pray that someone will rescue me before I’m dead.

He takes me into one of the spacious living rooms and lowers me onto the couch in a sitting position. His actions are similar to those of the man I had fallen in love with. Curtis was wrong. Dax is a damn good actor, the best.

As if nothing shocking has transpired between us, he hums a low tune while placing a pillow behind my head, not bothered that my hair is dripping wet.

He sits down next to me and pulls out a drawer from the coffee table, producing two plastic wine glasses and a bottle of red wine. He hands me a glass.

My shaking hand is unable to hold on to it so it falls onto my lap. Cursing under his breath, he hands it back to me and pours us both some wine. There’s a smile on his face as he reaches for a remote that closes the blinds and switches on a small light. I’m surprised when he flicks on the TV. What kind of sick game is he playing?

“I think you forgot about how we feel for each other.” He takes a drink of wine and puts an arm around my tense shoulders. “You need a little reminder.”

The movie that starts playing on the screen is Velvet Nights. The film that changed everything. He fast forwards to the part where our characters make love. The sounds of passion make me want to scream.

“Remember when we fucked at the audition? Remember the undeniable chemistry between us?” He takes another drink while I ignore mine. “We were made for each other, Emma. My dick was made to fuck you forever.”

Desperate to drown my sorrows, to erase the memories of that day at the audition when I had walked into his world, I glance down at my glass. But I can’t drink on an empty stomach. It’s important that I keep a clear head. I need to be ready to escape as soon as an opportunity presents itself.

“Let’s celebrate our love.” He drains his glass. “That’s expensive wine, by the way, a two thousand dollar bottle. Don’t waste it.”

Left with no choice, I take a sip and lower the glass down on the small table next to the couch. I wrap my arms around my body to keep myself warm, but it feels as cold as winter to me.

Dax doesn’t care about my discomfort as he sits back against the couch, his legs apart, his hands behind his head. The sight of his hard dick resting on his lower stomach makes me want to retch. “We’re hot together,” he says, grinning at me. He reaches for my hand but I pull away.

He tries again. This time his grasp is firm enough to send a message. I no longer resist as he brings my hand to his dick. “Make me come,” he murmurs.

I think of refusing but his earlier warning rings inside my head. I’m not ready to die. I have to do what he wants until I can find a way to escape.

As my hand moves up and down his shaft, I mentally remove myself from the situation. I force myself to think of Christa. Stomach cramps explode inside my belly at the thought of her going through another fight with cancer without me there. How long will he keep me here? I comfort myself with the thought that maybe Christa will get worried when she can’t reach me. I hope she will worry enough to call the cops. Or when I don’t show up for filming someone might find it suspicious.

“That feels fantastic, baby.” He throws his head back and places his hand over mine, urging me to move faster. I pray he’ll come soon so I can detach myself from him again. To my horror, he removes my hand from him, shifts even closer and uses his body to press me to a lying position.

“I want to come inside of you.” His voice is soaked in lust. “I love you, Emma.”

“I don’t—I don’t love you anymore.” Tears flood my eyes and I blink them away. “I don’t love you anymore.”

“Yes, you do, baby. Let me show you.” He pries my legs open with his knees and enters me. I’m disgusted with myself when my body responds to him, welcoming him as though he’s still the same man I loved, while my mind is revolting.

As he moves inside of me, his face buried into the side of my neck, I start to cry harder, furious with myself for all the mistakes I have made, mistakes that led me to him.

Despite my mind wanting to be far away from him, my body meets his thrusts over and over again. Is it comfort I’m looking for? How sick am I to give in to him? Why can’t I stop my hands from sliding across his skin or my mouth from releasing cries of pleasure mixed with pain? I cannot stop myself from being turned on by the sounds of us on the movie screen. I cannot stop myself coming at the same time he does.

When he’s done with me, he gets off and I curl up into a fetal position.

“See. I told you.” He leans back against the couch. “You still love me.”

Instead of responding to him, I just blink, wishing I could ask him to let me put some clothes on, to cover up my shame.

“Now that I know you still love me, let's make sure you understand our situation.”

He moves to a desk by the window and removes a piece of paper and a pen from one of the drawers. He drops them on the couch next to me. “I suggest you write some rules down so you won’t forget.”

I shake my head and bite into my bottom lip to keep from saying something that might get me killed.

“Rule number one. You will fuck me whenever I’m horny without a fight.” He rolls his shoulders. “Rule number two, you will no longer leave this house for any reason. Your loyalty is to me and our relationship.”

I lift my head from the couch and shake it. “You’re crazy.”

“Yeah, I’m crazy about you.” He folds his arms.

I fling away the page and pen and wait for him to attack me. His frustrated sigh makes me feel like a disobedient child. He picks up the paper and pen. “Don’t make me punish you again. Believe me, next time it won’t be with my dick.”

I grip the pen with my hands so tight my knuckles turn white. I remind myself that I have to do what he says until I find a chance to escape.

I write down his damn rules, wishing I could drive the pen into his neck.

“Rule number three, you will no longer call your sister.”

“You’re joking,” I say slowly, the pen hovering over the page. I can handle anything he throws at me but he cannot ask me to stay away from my sister. “You can’t ask me to do that.”

“Oh yes, I can. Whatever I say is law. You are mine. Now write.”

My gaze falls back onto the page. It’s fine. I can write whatever he wants me to do. Soon, I’ll be out of here. Someone will come looking for me. But no one knows I’ve moved. They all have my old address.

Still, I hold on to the hopes of a miracle.

Once I’m done writing all his rules, he grabs my arm and drags me out of the living room door while I scream and shout for him to release me. He only lets me go when we’re on the balcony overlooking a private orchard below. He tosses me to the ground. Before I get to my feet, he closes the glass door. I scream for him to let me in but he doesn’t.

On the other side of the door, I watch him open a locked cabinet and take out a bottle of gin. He drinks the alcohol straight from the bottle while watching me screaming my heart out.

“I made you and I can break you,” he shouts. “This is just a precaution. I need to make sure you’ve learned your lesson once and for all.”

With that, he turns on his heel and disappears into the other part of the house. From this side, no one will be able to see me. In fact, this area of the city is pretty isolated. Did he plan to torture me from the start?

I shout and scream until my throat is scratchy. Dax doesn’t return. The only way I can escape from the balcony is by jumping to my death, which is not an option. Christa would be devastated. I can’t bring her more pain.

The price I pay for my disobedience is an entire day and night on the balcony, naked, alone, and afraid of what my future holds. Dax Pierce has me right where he wants me.